Spain's flag carrier Iberia Airlines launched seasonal flights connecting Madrid to Zagreb, Split, and Dubrovnik, and announced it will continue flying to Zagreb and Dubrovnik during the winter months as well, the company said on Tuesday.

Although the Spanish airline had first introduced summer seasonal routes to Croatia in 2008, it never operated scheduled flights to Croatia during the wintertime. Ten years later, the company decided to launch winter operations connecting Madrid and Croatia, with flights twice a week to Zagreb and Dubrovnik.

The numbers of Spanish tourists visiting Croatia grows by 10 percent every year, and they are also flown in by Iberia’s competitors Croatia Airlines which flies to Barcelona, and Norwegian Air, which flies to 13 destinations in Spain and 5 cities in Croatia.

Iberia’s first seasonal flights this year to Dubrovnik and Zagreb flew on Friday, and they will be joined on June 1 by flights to Split.

Follow N1 via mobile apps for Android | iPhone/iPad | Windows| and social media on Twitter | Facebook.